I replaced the cup of canola with 1/2 cup olive oil (because I didn’t have canola) and it gave them a great depth of flavor

I filled in with the other half cup of oil by just adding more coconut milk

I only used lite coconut milk – it’s fatty enough anyway!

I used 2.5 bananas (having eaten half on the way home from the gym…) – I don’t think you can have too much banana in a banana muffin!

For next time, I’m going to try to cut down on sugar, which this recipe has a lot of. Overall, this made 24 medium-to-small muffins, which is how I like them – you could easily make one dozen plus a loaf of bread if you wanted.

What better way is there to celebrate the Olympics than by singing to Daft Punk eating the Olympic rings? None. We adapted a classic pineapple upside-down cake to fit into the Olympic spirit, rainbow rings and all. Make your own before the games end on February 23, and let me know how it goes!

Olympic Pineapple Upside-Down Cake(adapted from good old Betty Crocker)

Pat dry 5 pineapple rings – they don’t have to be too dry, just enough so that the color won’t run. In 4 separate containers, mix one drop of food color with a splash of pineapple juice, then lay one ring of pineapple in each color (red, blue, green, and one with a tiny bit of each to make black). Yellow is just the plain pineapple ring. Don’t flip the rings (since we only want the color on the top), but do move them around the container a bit to get all the dye onto them.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat butter in a 10-inch cake pan.

While the butter is melting, combine flour through egg in a mixer, and beat at low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally. Then beat at high speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl as you go.

Arrange pineapple slices color-side-down in the butter, then sprinkle brown sugar in a thin layer over the remaining butter, so there’s either a pineapple or brown sugar coating the entire base of the pan.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove, and immediately invert over a plate, keeping the pan on top for a few minutes. Remove and reveal your pineapples, then serve warm.

Enjoy with a mug of hot cocoa while cheering on your favorite Olympians.

There are two things you might not know about me if you haven’t seen me cook:

I am terrible at following directions. If I have even an inkling something should be done a different way (this would be better minced! Surely they meant that amount of butter was optional! I love sugar – ADD MORE!) I jump in and do it that way.

I have no patience. None. Zip. Nada. So when things need to be done slowly, I tend to crank up the heat just to get it finished with sooner.

I tried to quell both those urges with my recent cooking adventure, and had a 50% success rate. Even though I didn’t follow the directions, I did cook this much longer than I pretty much ever cook anything, and my patience definitely paid off. This is one of the most decadent and delicious dishes I’ve ever made and it will definitely become a staple in my cookbook. I was inspired by this recipe.

Southern (Collard) Greens with Bacon

1 tbsp olive oil

4 slices bacon, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium to large onion, chopped

1 bag southern greens from TJ’s

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper (optional)

3 cups chicken broth

Heat oil in a large pot. Cut up the bacon by stacking the slices and then cutting across the grain into about 10 pieces (or whatever – this isn’t rocket science. Just make it smaller). Add bacon to the pot and cook about 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and onion to the bacon and cook 5 minutes, until onions are mostly cooked and bacon is crispy.

Add greens to the pot and cook for about 3 minutes, until wilted/lightly fried.

Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook covered for 45 minutes or until greens are done – they might look finished while they’re still crunchy, so go ahead and try them if you’re not sure. It’s quite hard to overcook this, so don’t worry if your other dishes or your greens need more time beyond the first 45 minutes.

Greens before and after cooking

And enjoy! I ate mine with fresh bread and a poached egg – perfection! Good for breakfast, dinner, guests, or leftovers – they’re just plain good!

Quiche and I have a solid history – I used to make them for and with my grandma, I made them a ton when I moved to Boston, I buy them for lunch sometimes at this delicious place downtown. But what do you do when you really don’t need that crust anymore, and would rather save the calories and room in your stomach for something else?

Cue the frittata.

I came up with this recipe, which is the kind of frittata that falls somewhere between “crustless quiche” and “baked eggs”, because I wanted something light for dinner that could also serve as breakfast or lunch, and I wanted it to taste like summer – as fresh as possible. I ate this for almost a whole week and never got tired of it – so good!

Broccoli, Egg White, and Basil Frittata

Ingredients:

3 cups broccoli, chopped and steamed

1 cup onion, chopped and cooked

2 cloves garlic

4 eggs

1 carton egg whites

1 bag of shredded, low-fat Italian cheese mix (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup half-and-half

6 tbsp basil (about 10 leaves, chopped)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F) while you steam the broccoli in bite-sized pieces and cook the onion with a little oil and the garlic in a frying pan.

Whisk together the eggs, egg whites, cheese, and half-and-half in a large bowl. When blended, add the rest of the ingredients, with the basil last so it doesn’t cook too much in advance. Pour the entire mixture into two glass pie plates.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, until eggs are set. Eat hot, and then refrigerate when cool, including freezing some for later!

This recipe and its simple ingredients make two whole pies worth of delicious frittata, for 4 PointsPlus for 1/8 of the total serving. Since I used similarly sized pie plates, this means I could eat 1/4 of a pie (2 pieces) for less than the value of two pieces of toast with peanut butter. So good, so simple, so healthy!

Long, long ago, in a living room far, far away, I lost miserablyon my Oscar ballot. But I like to think I still won the night with my Oscar-themed menu, with one item from each Best Picture nominated film. Check below the photos for the specifics on each recipe.

Hershey kisses for Amour

70s-tastic and undercover-disguise ready peanut butter chocolate mustaches for Argo, with some “escape to Canada” Canadian Dry on the side

Life of (Pumpkin) Pi(e) dip

Southern corn muffins and red pepper jam from Beasts of the Southern Wild (our store didn’t have the ingredients to make hushpuppies!)

Southern Comfort in honor of Lincoln (with cranberry and a splash of gingerale = best drink ever)

Pigs in a blanket, perfect for eating in front of a football game a la Silver Linings Playbook (note: I never even got to eat one of these despite delivering them in two waves = major party pleaser!)

… served with smokey BBQ sauce for Django Unchained

A loaf of French bread and baked brie, courtesy of Valjean in Les Mis

(Coke) Zero Dark Thirty

Overall, it was a great bash and it taught me that you can never put out the red carpet too early, there’s no such thing as too many little hot dogs… and we need a bigger living room.

Argo mustaches – made with simple chocolate molds from Michael’s – super fun and a good team activity to try to get everything perfect before it sets!

Pumpkin Pie Dip – based off of this recipe, and I made the pumpkin pie seasoning from scratch!

Pigs in a blanket in the classic style – just get some mini hot dogs, subdivide some Pillsbury crescent roll dough, and cook until the dough is lightly browned. One thing of dough and one of hot dogs is enough to make two batches to feed a hungry bunch (minus me, since they were all gone by the time I sat down!)

Special thanks to my sous chef Sara, my partner in crime, Katie, my coworkers who helped me come up with menu items, and everyone else who came to celebrate and talk over Seth Macfarlane’s offensive commentary with us!

The hosts of the evening, on our red carpet (which we MIGHT have left out for an extra week or so…)